‘Creed II’ Early Buzz: Not As Good as ‘Creed’, But Still a Solid Sequel

#CreedII: Nowhere near as good as the first film – way too much fan service, and an often painfully unsubtle script. And yet, the performances sell it. Jordan, Stallone and Thompson are all electric. And you just can't beat the power of the ROCKY fanfare kicking-in mid-fight.

Next week, one of the many new releases trying to get audiences into theaters over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be Creed II. The sequel to the surprisingly great Rocky spin-off is bringing in another piece of the franchise’s legacy by bringing back Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundrgren), this time managing his boxer son Viktor Drago (played by real fighter Florian “Big Nasty” Munteanu) as he prepares for a match with Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). There’s no better time to say “This time, it’s personal,” since Ivan Drago is the one responsible for the death of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in Rocky IV, and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) isn’t exactly thrilled to see him back near a boxing ring again.

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So how does Creed II measure up to its predecessor? Well, it sounds like the sequel suffers from dipping too much back into the Rocky franchise by providing fan service. But director Steven Caple Jr. has still delivered a solid follow-up that audiences will enjoy. Find out more in our Creed 2 reviews round-up below.

Our own Chris Evangelista doesn’t have a full review, but he did post a reaction to Twitter:

CreedII - Film - Way - Fan - Service

#CreedII: Nowhere near as good as the first film – way too much fan service, and an often painfully unsubtle script. And yet, the performances sell it. Jordan, Stallone and Thompson are all electric. And you just can't beat the power of the ROCKY fanfare kicking-in mid-fight.

/Film’s Ben Pearson also weighed in on Twitter:

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Our old pal Angie Han at Mashable writes in her review:

“When Creed II is in the thick of it, it mostly works. It’s not quite as smart as Creed, or quite as beautiful, and it doesn’t have as much depth or nuance or texture. But it’s got enough to deliver...